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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30045594">Smoke Signals</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/almostclover/pseuds/almostclover'>almostclover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Real Person Fiction, The Vampire Diaries &amp; Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:07:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30045594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/almostclover/pseuds/almostclover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nina turned down forever with Ian, their worlds went up in flames. Even now, all these years later, embers still smolder, and while neither would like to admit it, it’s those little fires that keep them going—sending off subconsious smoke signals in hopes that they will find their way back to one another.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Nina Dobrev &amp; Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev/Ian Somerhalder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Sadness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Author's Note: Hello and welcome to Smoke Signals. It is important to note that this is a NIAN story. I am planning to publish short snippets into their lives in the present context. Fair warning, it will be angsty. If you prefer more of a lighthearted fluffy fic, I suggest you head over to my other Nian piece--Heartbeats. I have a general idea about how I want this to play out, but please drop a comment if you have any ideas and let me know what you think by reviewing!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She's not fond of games, and yet, somehow her whole life has become one. She won't admit it to herself, of course. That would be entirely too pathetic. Instead, she prefers to call it "doing what has to be done." Moves and countermoves.</p><p>She drunk dials him on accident one night and if he didn't immediately recognize the familiar boozed-up lilt in her voice, he might've mistaken her inebriation for tenderness. "We never get to talk anymore..." Her voice trails off like she's expecting him to fill in the blanks. He knows he shouldn't bore her with the dull details of his life, hell, he shouldn't have even answered her call, but he can't seem to help himself, not knowing when or if he will be afforded the opportunity to speak freely with her again.</p><p>"So you're doing well?" She asks after he's filled her in on pretty much every detail of his life. He can't help but sense that its not so much the alcohol talking anymore.</p><p>"You could say that." He smiles in spite of himself, touched by her consideration.</p><p>"I'm not." She deadpans before he even has a chance to ask her. But she doesn't elaborate.</p><p>After a while, conversation drifts off and the time comes to hang up the phone but neither have the heart to do it, so they just sit there breathing in each other's presence for the longest time. It's strangely intimate, she thinks, and she revels in the simplicity of it as though she were lying in his arms.</p><p>"I miss you," he breathes out after a lengthy period of silence, and if she weren't hanging on his every breath, she would've missed it.</p><p>"I miss you too." Her response is more solid, more sure, until she realizes what she's done, calling him, a married man, in the middle of the night, under the influence of a strange cocktail mixed with liquid courage and lingering feelings, so she hangs up the phone before she has the chance to make an even bigger fool of herself.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sundays</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He knows he shouldn’t, but he does. In that way, he’s always been able to relate to the egotistical, maniacal vampire he played for eight years of his life. He is typically able to walk the straight and narrow without an ounce of temptation, but she has always been the exception. </p><p>They weren’t always toxic. When they first fell in love, it was the most pure experience—cheeky grins and flirty giggles, the most innocent, undeniable attraction. Where she went, he was sure to follow, and no one questioned it because they were just that perfect. </p><p>Then, he supposes, he started to love her a bit too much. He couldn’t imagine a waking moment without her, and she started to push away because she’s only ever wanted to be free and love can be the most restricting bond of all. Even so, he’s confident it wasn’t his love that drove her away—it was her own.</p><p>When they broke up, he questioned everything except her feelings. Nose-diving into a deep depression, his whole life and future flashed before his eyes like any heartbroken human being, and yet, in the darkest of moments, her very own words brought him solace. “I love you too much…” She’d screamed at him before erupting in a fresh fit of tears, and it’s that fact all this time later that he refuses to bury.</p><p>He misses her, but not in the same way he once did. The ache is gone in the day to day, and while more things remind him of her than he’d care to admit, he’s made the best of it. He’d almost forget about her altogether if it weren’t for Sundays. </p><p>His wife is a goal-getter, the type who hits the ground running every single day. She’s off like a bottle rocket at 6 a.m. and he is right there with her on most days, but he’s always been a sucker for a lazy Sunday. More often than not, on Sundays, he has the house mostly to himself and aside from the occasional invasion, he’s left alone with his thoughts, which drift to her like they’re being pulled on the strongest ocean current. </p><p>In spite of his own screaming conscious, he spends the day scrolling through fan accounts on social media and reminiscing on how her shampoo smells. He pretends she’s lying beside him as he doses off for an afternoon nap, as she has done countless times before. When he wakes up in a particularly uncomfortable situation from an erotic dream starring the object of his fantasies, he despises his own pathetic actions.</p><p>So he comments sappy messages on his wife’s Instagram posts and pretends he isn’t drowning in a mountain of guilt.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Silver</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She sees his sweet comments on his wife’s posts and it makes her heart wrench. She wouldn’t consider herself a jealous person, and yet, seeing him dote on someone else makes her green with envy.</p><p>Deep down, she understands that in order to move on, she has to get past petty bouts of jealousy, but they have a tendency to catch her by surprise, and when they do, she ends up drowning in them, analyzing their pictures and the moments they choose to share with the world, but never leaving any evidence behind.</p><p>She notices one day that they aren’t wearing their wedding rings, and while there are any number of reasons why that could be the case, she can’t resist being drawn to her jewelry box to pull it out and slip it on her finger.</p><p>His promise ring. A simple silver band that once held them together.</p><p>She knows she should get rid of it, or at the very least not wear it around and give people the wrong idea. And yet, she can’t bring herself to care enough to do something about it. It’s her favorite piece of jewelry, and she tells herself it doesn’t have to mean anything, that just because he gave it to her doesn’t mean it has anything to do with him.</p><p>But she catches herself sometimes, glancing down at it as it glistens on her finger, and her mind slips to an imaginary place that she only allows herself to go when no one else is around to tether her to reality.</p><p>It’s a place where he holds her hand, of all things. A place where he lets his fingers tickle her palm as he fiddles with this very same ring, wordlessly reminding her that he isn’t going anywhere.</p><p>Then she starts posting pictures of her own, pictures where a tiny sliver of it is visible, though it’s never the focal point. Their fans go wild in the comments with speculation, as she knew they would. She shouldn’t encourage them to talk and to hope and to dream, but if she’s being completely honest with herself, she’s doing the very same thing.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Smoking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Prozac helps, but he could swear he’s going mad sometimes, interpreting every little thing she does like it’s some sort of smoke signal calling out to him for rescue. Seeing the promise ring is the first thing that sends him spiraling, but he pulls himself together when he reminds himself that its just a piece of jewelry and she’s allowed to wear it without thinking of him.</p><p>Next, it’s the cigarettes. When she lights one up one evening over dinner with Paul, he does a double take. “I thought you quit smoking.”</p><p>She simply rolls her eyes and breathes a smoke cloud in his direction. “Old habits die hard, I guess.” </p><p>Paul supposes he’s the linchpin in their fragile relationship, one of the few they both enjoy being around—separately, of course. He tries not to mention his time spent with one while in the presence of the other, but he’s stopped apologizing for it when he slips up because neither seem to mind.</p><p>The very next evening as he sits on Ian’s couch enjoying a Lakers game, he brings it up. “Nina’s smoking again…” He’s not even entirely sure why he says it, fully aware that there’s really nothing to be done, and besides, it shouldn’t concern Ian anyway.</p><p>But the way he draws in a breath at the mention of her name tells him all he needs to know. </p><p>“How is she?” He doesn’t make eye contact when he asks like he’s afraid of the reality of it. </p><p>“She’s been better.” Paul offers a weak smile as Ian pours himself another shot of bourbon and knocks it back. “You’ve been better too, my friend.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for following along... I really intended for this to be a shorter piece, but, sticking with the "S" theme for chapter names, I've already thought of so much more to write about. Sneak preview? Sea, Stubble, Sincerity, South Africa, Someone New... Keep the ideas coming! I will continue to update as long as the support is here!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Stubble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Damon was always clean shaven, so he rarely had an opportunity to grow out his beard while filming, but he was a sucker when she insisted. She remembers the early days when they were so in love it was physically painful, when one glance in his direction set her heart racing. </p><p>They covered it up for the longest time, even from their closest friends. Of course, everyone knew, but they denied it vehemently just because they could. Because in a life lived almost entirely in front of the public eye, it was their own little secret.</p><p>She misses falling into his dressing room after a particularly long day at work, shooting glances at each other across set, only to be tackled to the sofa and peppered with open mouth kisses from head to toe as he swore he couldn’t contain himself around her sultry Katherine look. She misses sending him naughty text messages and whispering in his ear just to catch him off guard in a room full of people. She misses his blatant flirtation, nonchalant attempts at wooing her that weren’t lost on a single soul. Most of all, she misses being his one and only—she knows it’s selfish, but she misses captivating him mind, body, and soul.</p><p>She does a double take when she sees an advertisement for his bourbon as she flips through a magazine one particularly underwhelming day as she sits in the hot seat for hair and makeup, preparing for yet another photoshoot. He looks rugged, she thinks to herself, as sexy as ever, and she tries not to stare, but she can’t help herself really, feeling the sudden urge to reach out and run her fingers across his cheeks just to hear him draw in a breath. It’s impossible, but it feels like he’s staring directly at her.</p><p>“You and him were something else,” her hairdresser wonders aloud, as she jerks her hand back from absentmindedly running her fingers over the page. “Together you had that spark, that edge. It was rare.”</p><p>She won’t confirm or deny his musings, only snaps the magazine closed and draws her gaze to the mirror, setting her jaw and calculating a countermove in this nonexistent game they seem to play with one another.</p><p>When the makeup artist arrives to ask her what look she’s going for, she doesn’t hesitate. “Sultry, provocative, erotic.”</p><p>They rave about her performance for weeks, begging for her secret, which, of course she can’t tell. She poses for the camera like she’s staring directly at him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Sincerity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 6: Sincerity</p><p>Nikki stops wearing her wedding band out of the blue one day without so much as an explanation. When he works up the gumption to ask about it, she shrugs it off. “Come on.” He’d ignored the chasm between them until that point, choosing to blame any number of factors for the distance in their relationship. </p><p>They’re off more than they’re on these days, and their “timeouts” are becoming more and more frequent. This time, she says she needs some space and asks him politely to move out for a month. He’s in shock at first, but he agrees to keep the peace. He moves in to the spare bedroom at Paul’s the very next morning and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly grateful for the change of pace.</p><p>“Paullllll…” She comes screeching into the house so quickly that he doesn’t even have time to register who she is before she collides with him full force. She bounces back like she’s been burned and begins a profuse apology while he drinks her in. This is the first time in nearly three years that they’ve been in each other’s proximity, and the flames instantly reignite.	</p><p>She explains how she has a weekly dinner with Paul and she decided to swing by a little early today since she saw a light on, and no matter how hard she tries to keep her eyes on his, it’s only a matter of time before she slips and her gaze sweeps over him greedily. Her attempts at subtly ogling him aren’t lost on him.</p><p>They go through the motions of ordering dinner like being in each other’s presence isn’t a monumental event only for Paul to call and ask for a rain check after getting caught up at work. The tension gives way once the booze starts flowing and before long it’s bare feet and reality TV, takeout boxes and inside jokes. </p><p>When Jimmy Fallon comes on, it’s a silent reminder that they should call it an evening, and yet, when she gets up to leave, she can’t hide the way her voice cracks as she tells him goodbye, shoving her hands in the back pockets of her jeans as she moves toward the door.</p><p>He pulls her in for a hug because he simply has no other option, heartbroken to watch this powerful woman wilt before his very eyes. He whispers against the column of her neck as she falls into him, hellbent on reigniting the fire in her eyes.</p><p>She pulls back and locks eyes with him and any restraint he once held is obliterated.</p><p>When her lips open over his, she feels slightly unhinged in the best of ways, pressing ever closer to him as his hands wind around her waist. It’s cinematic—which makes complete sense considering a good portion of their lip locks over the years have been for the big screen. </p><p>Time stands still and he buries the part of his conscious that screams at him to stop and think about what he is doing just so he can revel in the feeling of finally being reunited, picking her up and carrying her toward the sofa and pulling her on top of him as she giggles and rolls her hips against his. It’s nostalgic and unhindered, completely deafening every ounce of resolve he could dream of mustering. </p><p>When he pulls back to drink her in, her eyes shine dark and wanting, and he has every intention of finishing what they’ve started until she smoothes her finger against his furrowed brow and she hurts right along with him because she knows there’s no chance he would be doing this if he thought there was a sliver of hope left for his marriage. Even so, she knows that tearing apart a home isn’t the right thing to do, so she whispers against his neck. “Clothes stay on and no touching. When it’s all said and done, we can blame it on too much alcohol and an unfortunate situation.”</p><p>The way he kisses her tells her that couldn’t be farther from the truth, but after a few weeks, she really believes that’s all it was.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is DEFINITELY my favorite chapter so far, but don't think it's all peaches and roses from here on out. What do you think will happen next?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Sea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 7: Sea </p><p>He kisses her in Ibiza after he spent nearly a week convincing his wife she had nothing to be concerned about. </p><p>Nostalgia hangs in the air as the cast reunites for the first time in nearly two years on the Spanish coast. Nikki insists on joining him for the trip (much to his surprise) and he wishes he didn’t resent her for it, but somewhere beneath her forced nonchalance, he feels like he has his own personal babysitter. They all chat and drink by the sea and it holds its own sense of perfection away from the watchful eye and careful scrutiny of the fans. </p><p>Kevin and Julie rent a yacht for the day to celebrate with the cast and he breathes a nearly audible sigh of relief when his wife says she’s going to head out shopping instead of tagging along. </p><p>He had been concerned that things would be weird, but everyone picks up right where they left off, laughing and joking around with one another. </p><p>She opts for being standoffish at first, unsure if she should err on the side of caution or follow her heart. Even so, she isn’t able to avoid him long, catching his eye from across the deck and offering him a shy smile. </p><p>As the morning wears on, their gaze finds one another far too often, even as they are genuinely invested in discussing everything else with everyone else. </p><p>Sometime around noon, she decides to cut the tension, sidling up to him at the indoor bar when everyone else is preoccupied lounging by the pool.</p><p>“I’ve missed you,” he breathes into the air around them before she has a chance to greet him, and somehow his words feel like a lazy good morning kiss.</p><p>She doesn’t reply, but the sentiment is echoed in her eyes. He pulls her in for a hug and he swears that’s his only prerogative until he feels her fingers instinctively clutch the hair at the nape of his neck. He should feel pathetic that such an innocent gesture is his complete undoing, and yet, in that moment, he is fully consumed by her.</p><p>When his lips close over hers, it’s not the same as before. The heat and the passion are replaced by tenderness and misplaced devotion. And just like that, she’s crying, tears streaming down her face as she pulls away and averts her gaze, too ashamed to look him in the eye.</p><p>He moves to comfort her and she shakes her head violently. </p><p>“I can’t keep doing this, Ian.” He doesn’t think he’s ever heard her this dejected. “I love you and I wish we had our happily ever after, but I screwed that up a long time ago.”</p><p>Before he can process what she’s said, she’s leaning up to place a featherlight kiss on his cheek before shouldering past him to join the rest of the cast on deck. For the rest of the day, she laughs and dances around with the girls. She drinks entirely too much and he pretends not to notice. He pretends not to care.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Someone Else</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 8: Someone New</p><p>He does a double take when they make the announcement. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem possible. He has no right to have an opinion, but he can’t stand the guy. The way he is with her. The way she is with him. The way they are together. </p><p>It has more depth to it than any of her previous relationships (not that he’s been paying attention), and a twinge of something irritating comes over him. It’s annoyed, upset, and hurt all tied into one, a spark of envy so uncalled for that it brings him back to the raw emotion that coursed through him for months after their breakup.</p><p>After over three years together, it wasn’t a clean break and they both reveled in the messiness of it until they reached a breaking point. She’d get caught making out with some high profile celebrity at a bar and he’d drunk dial her crying about it. He’d send another girl a flirty glance at a party and she’d pounce on him in the coat closet.</p><p>Aftershocks.</p><p>They couldn’t be together but they couldn’t quite be apart either. </p><p>He remembers one particularly eventful evening when he decided to do it on purpose just to see what would happen. They were at a black tie charity event in L.A. on their first official break from filming since the breakup and its the longest they’ve been apart since they first met. He’s miserable, but he blames it on any number of other things just to keep him sane. </p><p>If he’s honest with himself, the entire evening revolved around her—his cologne, his suit, his date—all carefully calculated to catch her eye. And it works like a charm. When he catches her eye from across the room, it’s dizzying, and when he breaks her gaze to offer his date his arm, he feels her staring holes through him.</p><p>This game they play is more addictive than any high he could ever chase, and it isn’t long before he steps outside to get a breath of fresh air and she’s following him out onto the terrace.</p><p>“Are you happy with her?” She asks, hot tears bursting from her eyes as she runs her hand through her hair subconsciously like she always does when he sends her over the edge. They both know she’s being reckless, letting her emotions take over, but in many ways he likes her best like this. Angry. Passionate. Unmistakably and unabashedly his.</p><p>She launches herself at him without warning, but he could see it coming from a mile away and he sighs into her kiss like he couldn’t go another second without it. Before he gets completely consumed by her, he has sense enough to tell his date he’s feeling sick while she’s calling an Uber, and when they get back to her place, it’s all hands and tongues and skin against skin, whispering wordlessly what neither of them is bold enough to say.</p><p>Time changes everything. He knows that. Things are so very different now than they were before when he was so caught up in her that he couldn’t tell you the color of his date’s eyes, the same date he went on to marry.</p><p>He can’t help but wonder if this is her attempt at doing the exact same thing.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Smitten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 9: Smitten</p><p>Growing up, her mom was always critical of the boys she brought around—the lilt in her Bulgarian accent coming out as soon as she kindly shut the door to see them off and launched into a lecture on making wise choices. To be fair, she was always a very good judge of character, and for all of the no-counts she sent on their merry way, she simply adored Ian.</p><p>In her twenty plus years on this earth, she’d never seen her mom quite as flustered as she was the first time she introduced them. She’d always been a free-spirited chatterbox, content to let the world judge as they please without so much as a care given (a trait Nina would like to think she inherited), but like mother, like daughter, he had her blushing and stumbling over her words from the get-go.</p><p>“He’s a keeper…” She’d whispered, pulling her daughter in for a hug when the day was winding down. And it wasn’t anything she didn’t already know, but it shocked her senseless to think that her mother would agree. </p><p>His mom had the same reaction to her, she was certain of that. Far from the typical mother-in-law-esque hostility, she had experienced nothing but adoration and companionship in the time they spent together. </p><p>When they officially severed ties, she waited three full weeks to tell her mom—too utterly devastated to face her certain wrath. Her reaction had been much cooler than expected, just a shrug and a nod accompanied by the assurance that they would find their way back to one another in time.</p><p>From that moment forward, she made it her mission to inquire about him every so often, snooping about her daughter’s business in the sincerest of ways. Her questioning slowly faded with time, and she was beginning to think she was finally convinced their relationship was truly over for good.</p><p>“I got the strangest call today,” her mom interjects one day on the phone when their usual small talk has played itself out. Somehow, miraculously, she knows before a word is spoken that it was him.</p><p>“What’d he say?” Her heart skips a beat in spite of herself. She’d like to think she’s doing better, that she’s not so caught up in the thought of him anymore, but the earnest tone in her voice gives her away.</p><p>She can feel her mother’s radiant smile through the phone, and before she can squelch it, the same grin plasters itself across her own face, as well. “He just told me he missed spending time together and hated how we never get to see each other anymore. We caught each other up to speed and discussed the possibility of getting together sometime soon.”</p><p>Her voice tapers off for a moment like she’s contemplating whether or not to continue. “When we ran out of things to catch up on, we talked about you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author's Note: I wasn't going to update twice in one weekend, but everyone's kind reviews and the ambiance of Mother's Day weekend inspired this last minute addition. I hope you love it as much as I do! Thanks again for all of your endearing comments. I will continue to update as long as you all read and review! As always, let me know if you have any fresh ideas. I'm always looking for new scenes to add.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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